Orla Kiely

Orla Kiely is a globally recognised fashion and lifestyle brand founded and run by Orla and a small team. Best known for the iconic Stem leaf print, the brand has grown and blossomed into an extensive library of nostalgic, joyful patterned accessories. Each one with the unique ability to inspire you to be the most creative version of yourself.

Founded in 1995, the brand had already undergone a digital transformation and made a transition into focussing primarily on ecommerce. However a strategy was needed in order to ensure that the brand could continue to grow incrementally in years to come.

The unique prints and products of Orla Kiely attract a similarly unique audience. A female audience, initially aged 40+, who have a keen eye for a design, a desire for high quality and a need to be individual and express their confidence and personality through colour and pattern.

We faced many challenges including:

Rising acquisition costs. With the general increase in cost of advertising, it became apparent that we would need to combat the rise in cost of acquiring new customers, especially when we considered the cost of awareness and nurturing of these users.

Internationalisation of the brand. In order to meet the monthly and annual revenue targets, it was essential that we try to avoid just selling more to the same people. However, it was important that the ethos and unique personality of Orla Kiely, which carries Irish and British heritage, was not lost when targeting new geographies like the US.

Privacy and data has been an ongoing challenge for all marketers since the depreciation of 3rd party cookies. A solution needed to be found whereby we could continue to acquire website and platform activity safely and report accurately on success.

Reducing the reliance on promotions. Previously, in order to grow the customer base, introductory promotions has been used alongside, end of month, end of season and weekend exclusive promotional periods. There is a challenge to not heavily rely on these tactics to acquire new customers and meet revenue targets due to effect long term discounting has on brand perception and profit margins.